1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dicing machine which dices a work or semiconductor wafer and so on, and more specifically, to a dicing machine provided with an interlock for preventing the dicing machine from being improperly set in motion.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the dicing machine, a rotary blade rotates at a high speed and dices a work or a semiconductor wafer. Parts of the blade except a cutting part are covered with a flange cover. The flange cover is provided with a pair of nozzles, through which cutting solution is jetted to both sides of the blade which is cutting the work. An optical blade breakage detector, which detects breakage of the blade, is attached to the flange cover so that detecting parts of the blade breakage detector face to each other across the edge of the blade. Since the nozzle and the blade breakage detector may obstruct replacement of the blade, the flange cover is divided into two, and the nozzle and the blade breakage detector are attached to one of the divided covers that is turnably arranged on an axis perpendicular to the blade.
When the blade is replaced with a new one, the turnable cover is turned to an upper direction so as to move the nozzles and the blade breakage detector away from the blade. Moreover, when the blade is replaced, a blade attaching and detaching device is attached to the other divided cover or stationary flange cover, so as to detach the old blade and attach a new blade. In the conventional dicing machine, when the blade is replaced, the operator turns the turnable cover to the opening position, and attaches the blade attaching and detaching device on the stationary flange cover. However, there are cases where the operation of the dicing machine is resumed while the blade attaching and detaching device is still installed to the flange cover after the replacement of the blade, or the operation of the dicing machine is resumed while the blade attaching and detaching device is removed but the operator forgets to return the turnable cover from the opening position to the closing position. Moreover, there is an extreme case that after removing the blade, the operator leaves the dicing machine once and does another job, and when the operator returns to the dicing machine, the operator forgets to attach a new blade before resuming the operation of the dicing machine.
In the case that the blade attaching and detaching device remains installed, the blade attaching and detaching device interferes with other parts of the mechanism of the dicing machine, and not only the blade attaching and detaching device but also other parts of the mechanism are greatly damaged. In the case that the turnable cover remains opened, the coolant jetted from the nozzles is not applied to the blade, so that both the blade and the work being processed are damaged. In the case that the blade remains detached, the dicing machine determines that the work that has not been processed finishes being processed, and sends out the unprocessed work.